Harry Imhoff
| Date and Place of Birth: | June 17, 1926 Baltimore, MD |
| Date and Place of Death: | June 3, 1945 Okinawa |
| Baseball Experience: | Minor League |
| Position: | Catcher |
| Rank: | Private |
| Military Unit: | Company E, 7th Marines, 1st Marine Division US Marine Corps |
| Area Served: | Pacific Theater of Operations |
Harry N. Imhoff, Jr., the son of Harry, Sr., and Evelyn, was born in Baltimore Maryland on June 17, 1926.
He
starred in baseball, football and basketball at Mount St. Joseph High
School, a Catholic school in Irvington, southwest Baltimore, before
signing with the Orioles of the Class AA International League in the
spring of 1944. “Harry Imhoff, just out of high school, is another
promising receiver with a whale of an arm,” announced the Washington
Post.
Imhoff played exhibition games against the Philadelphia Athletics on
March 26 and the Boston Red Sox on April 4. He appeared in one regular
season game, going 0 for 2 at the plate, then enlisted with the Marine
Corps.
Private Imhoff served in the Pacific with Company E of the 7th Marines,
1st Marine Division, and was reported missing in action
during the early days of the Okinawa campaign in April 1945. On July 24,
the United States War Department officially listed him as killed in
action; the date given for his death was June 3 but this is probably the
date his body was recovered.
“He was on one of those landing crafts in the Marines,” said teammate
Howie Moss years later. “They dropped the front end when they landed on
the beach and he never got off.”
His name is among the 240,000 American servicemen names inscribed on the
Peace Memorial at Okinawa.
In 1949, at the request of his parents, Harry N. Sr., and Evelyn Imhoff, the young soldier's remains were returned home to Baltimore. On Friday, March 4, a Requiem High Mass was held at St. Mary's Star of the Sea Church, followed by internment at the Holy Cross Cemetery in Dundalk, Maryland.
|
Team |
League |
Class |
G |
AB |
R |
H |
2B |
3B |
HR |
RBI |
AVG |
|
| 1944 | Baltimore | International | AA | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
Thanks to Davis O. Barker for help with this biography. Thanks to Astrid van Erp for help with photos for this biography
Date Added February 1, 2012 Updated August 2, 2017
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